


The Crown Prince, The Noble, and The Avatar

by CamBellSoup



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender, One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, Ba Sing Se, Earth Kingdom (Avatar), Fire Nation (Avatar), Fire Nation Royal Family, I'm Bad At Summaries, Inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Tags Are Hard, pirates are still in this baby, that's shanks' job
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-11-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:33:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26079559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CamBellSoup/pseuds/CamBellSoup
Summary: The Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, Ace, and the son of a wealthy Nobleman, Sabo, decide to run away to Republic City after an incident that almost forced them apart and badly burned Sabo. Two years later the Avatar, Luffy, sneaks away from his training in Ba Sing Se by stowing away on a pirate ship headed to the same city.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo
Comments: 6
Kudos: 58





	1. The Crown Prince and the Noble

**Author's Note:**

> So warning I guess? This is my first fic I've done in years, and the first to this account. Not really sure the drive that got me here, but hey whatever works. There will be no consistent release (especially with school now) but I'll try to not forget about this or go too long without a new chapter

Ace sat with his head in his hand trying to subtly look out the window to his left. In front of him was a tutor rambling on about things he couldn’t care less about, his back facing his student. Ace stopped paying attention some time ago, his mind wandered to more interesting things like pranks he and Sabo could pull on the stuck up kids they live around. A grin crept onto his lips as he thought of Stelly’s stupid face after being caught in the boys’ trap.

 _Spirits, that kid is a spoiled little br_ -

“Prince Ace,” the voice shocked him back into reality. “What was I talking about just now?”

Ace’s mind raced as he tried to think of any word that entered his brain in the last 30 minutes.

“Trade?” He guessed.

He heard a heavy sigh from the man in front of him. _Guessed poorly_ , he thought.

“Prince Ace,” again with the disappointed tone. “How do you expect to rule this nation if you don’t pay attention to the ways it operates?”

“The council seems to be doing a fine job without me,” Ace tried to refute. “I honestly don’t see why I have to take the throne at all!”

The room was silent as his tutor looked at him with an unreadable expression. All Ace wanted was the lesson and lecture to be over, yet he feared he may have accidentally increased the amount of time he’d be spending in this room.

“I can’t deal with this childishness right now,” he said. “Go, we’ll end early, but you better pay attention next lesson or you’ll regret it.”

“Thanks, Rayleigh!” As Ace ran out the room, he saw his tutor roll his eyes, but missed his small grin.

\- - -

Sabo sat on the rim of the fountain in the garden of the Royal Palace. He swung his legs impatiently, waiting for his friend. He pulled out a pocket watch and quickly opened it to see the time.

“Ugh,” he rolled his eyes.

“Sorry, Sabo!”

Sabo picked up his head and looked around for where his name was called from. “Ace! What the hell took you so long?”

Ace stood in front of him, bent over, trying to catch his breath. He tilted his head up to look up at Sabo. “I had a lesson with Rayleigh today, I’m lucky I even got away.”

Sabo tilted his head, “I thought you didn’t have lessons on Wednesdays?”

“Rayleigh thought I wasn’t ‘learning enough’ with our old schedule” Ace brought up his fingers to put quotes around the words.

“I mean,” Sabo laughed. “He’s right! You're dumb ass wasn't learning anything.”

“Shut up!” Ace crossed his arms and looked away while his friend continued to laugh at his expense. “Anyway, where are we going today?”

It took a second for Sabo to answer, trying to calm himself down. “Harbor City,” he choked out. “I heard there’s a circus in town. Thought it could be fun?”

“Yeah, I guess it could be fun.” Ace said. “We’ll have to sneak out of Caldera then.”

“Well, it’s not like we haven’t done it before.”

A smirk grew on Ace’s face. “Then I guess this will be fun.”

\- - -

Ace hid with his friend behind boxes stacked with fireworks. An annoyed look was stuck on his face ever since they got there. 

"This was stupid! You're so stupid! Do you want to get caught?"

Sabo looked at Ace who, he believed, had done the dumbest thing he possible could have.

"come on, Sabo," rolling his eyes. "You wanted to hit him too."

Sabo couldn't deny it, so instead he poked his head out from behind the explosives. "I think they're gone."

Ace had a small grin on his face. "Let's go, Sabo."

"Ace! Wait-"

Before Sabo finished, Ace ran out from behind the boxes toward the nearest food stand. Sabo dropped his face into his hands, sighing deeply. 

"why are we friends again?" Sabo yelled, running after Ace.

"I'm the only one who can put up with your bullshit!"

" _My_ bullshit!"

"Yes, _your_ bull-" Ace ran head first into the armored back of a city guard. 

The guard turned quickly, looking directly at the boys, anger crept onto his face. "There you are, you little brats!"

"Shit," Ace pivoted on his feet. "Run!"

The two bolted in the opposite direction, heading toward the city gates. Their best hope was to get back to the capital. _If we're caught, the council will never let me leave the Palace again._ Ace's mind went to the worst possible outcome. Never leaving a guard's side, not being able to go outside the Palace grounds, maybe never being able to see Sabo again. While stuck in his head, the boys were surrounded. Five Harbor City guards circled them, weapons in hand.

"Dammit," Sabo hissed. "Ace, what are we gonna do?"

Ace was ready to fight, he always was. "We can take them, no problem!" 

Ace's right arm erupted into flames before Sabo could protest. Fire whipped towards two guards in front of him as his arm swiped across his chest. No one could deny the power and heat of the crown prince. He was a natural prodigy ever since he was a toddler. However, his type of fire bending had a weakness. 

"Ace! The hell," Sabo tried to get his attention. "you almost hit me! Control your flames!"

His whole arm was still on fire, not being able to produce a flame smaller than his entire fist. He didn't really care though.

"What?" Ace grinned. "It makes me look more badass." 

Sabo rolled his eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time today. 

"Damn kids!" They heard a guard near Sabo shout. "Who they hell do you think you are?"

"Ha," Ace laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know!" He got back into his fighting stance, ready to throw another wall of fire.

"Stop this!" A strangely familiar voice was heard from down an alley. 

"Oh no." Ace couldn't deal with another lecture today, even though he was sure that's what he was going to get. 

"Crap! Is that-" Sabo tried to ask. 

"General Rayleigh!" A guard chimed in, cutting Sabo off. 

"I'll be taking these kids, Soldier." Rayleigh smiled, yet an annoyed aura came off of him. The guards around them looked confused, but they saluted and walked away. 

"Thanks, Rayleigh," Ace said, trying to save face. "Those guards were way out of line."

"Would you like to tell me why they were attacking you?" 

Neither boy wanted to answer, both looking anywhere but Rayleigh's face.

"Fine," he sighed out. "We'll talk back at the Palace." He began walking away, the friends walking cautiously behind him. 


	2. The Avatar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two years after the events of Chapter One, Luffy deals with his training to be the Avatar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2! I'm planning to go back and fix chapter 1 up a little, add some things that may not have been clear before. So look out for that. The Ace and Sabo timeline is 2 years before the Luffy timeline until the eventually merge (spoilers) so sorry if that's confusing

Luffy sat with his legs crossed on the ground. His head bobbing left and right as he watched the White Lotus members fight against each other. He was supposed to be watching their form, but all the boy could pay attention to was the wave of bending in front of him. Something about the power of the elements shook him. Maybe it was the avatar spirit trying to break out, or maybe it was a general fascination for a seven year old. Whatever it was, it had been a long time since Luffy wasn’t bored during training. All “training” at this stage was breathing exercises and stances. The sages told him there was no reason to rush mastering the elements, since they found him at such a young age. All Luffy knew how to do before he was found by the White Lotus was lift a few stones and now, two years later, he can lift a few stones with the right stance. 

“This is great and all,” Luffy leaned over to talk to the man standing next to him. “But what I wanna do is bend. Why do I have to learn to breathe and stand still?” 

It felt like a million times he’s asked this question and the man next to him feels like he’s responded a million and one. He had no good answer anymore since nothing seemed to get through to this boy. 

“Because,” the voice came, surprisingly, from behind them. “Bending is about control, without the proper skills you’ll have no instinct, no real bending power.” 

“Grandpa-” Luffy whined. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with that old guy”

Garp suppressed a laugh as he saw his grandson’s face fall into a pout. 

“Did you just call the President of the Earth Kingdom ‘That Old Guy’?” 

Luffy just stared at him, waiting for an answer to his question. 

With a sigh, Garp responded. 

“I thought I’d come help since there’s a council meeting going on, they don’t need me. What do you say, wanna do some earth bending with your grandpa?”

Luffy wanted to earth bend, yes. However, not with Garp. His grandfather wasn’t one to go easy on him just because of his age. It didn’t matter what Luffy said though, since he was also not someone who took ‘no’ for an answer. 

Garp picked Luffy up by his shirt and began carrying him to the training ground the White Lotus members were standing in. As they saw Garp move closer they bowed and left the arena. He plopped Luffy down at the farthest right of the ring and began walking to the other side. The White Lotus stood straight waiting for Garp’s inevitable anger and Luffy’s unpreventable waterworks. 

Luffy tried to get into his stance and get the first attack in before Garp had the chance to turn and face him. He slid his left leg behind him and punched the air as hard as he could. Instead of the ground moving under him as he expected, a small spark of fire danced off his fist. Across from him, Garp laughed. Before Luffy had time to react with another attempt at an attack, a rock the size of his fist smacked him in the face. Luffy fell on his back and burst into tears. Garp sauntered over to his grandson, trying to hold in his anger. He looked down at Luffy when he reached him then turned to face the White Lotus. 

“What the hell have you been teaching him all this time!” His voice could be heard across the entire castle. “I should have never let Senguko convince me to leave his training to your group! You!” He pointed at a tall member to the left of the group. “ You’re a water bender, right? Fix his nose. Either heal it or get him some ice. I’m going to talk to Sengoku.” He stomped away, his hands clasped tight. The White Lotus member walked over to the crying boy and held out his hand. 

“Can you let go of your face, Luffy, it won’t hurt in a second.” 

Luffy slowly dropped his hands to his sides. Sniffling, he nodded to the man. “Ok.”

The man bent water from a small container at his side. He held it up to Luffy’s face, healing his broken nose. Luffy moved his hand up and cautiously touched his nose, feeling no pain. 

“Thanks, Ice Guy!” Luffy said with a large smile. 

“It’s Kuzan, Luffy.”

“Ice Guy, right.”

Kuzan signed. _Whatever,_ he thought. He pulled out a piece of cloth from his pocket and wiped the blood that was dripping down Luffy’s face. 

“I don’t know what the old man expects from you,” Kuzan was surprised he was even talking about this with him. He did feel Luffy needed to know it wasn’t his fault. “You’re just a kid, you got plenty of time to learn all the elements, let alone earth bending. You’ll get there.”

Luffy stopped paying attention when he was called ‘just a kid’. 

Kuzan noticed his eyebrows pointing down and his bottom lip sticking out. “What’s wrong?”

“I may be a kid!” Kuzan was surprised by the power in Luffy’s voice. “But I’m strong too! You’ll see! One day I’ll kick Gramp's ass!”

Kuzan scoffed. Fluffing Luffy’s hair, he stood up. “Yeah, whatever, kid.”

“I will! I’ll be the strongest bender in the world and I’ll kick all your asses!”

Luffy shot up from the ground and began running after the waterbender. 

“Don’t you need to finish your training for the day?”

Luffy stuck out his tongue and pulled the bottom of his eye down at the tall man in front of him. “Screw you! I’m bored so I’m leaving!”

Before Kuzan could respond, Luffy ran off down an alley out of the training grounds. “Spirits, that kid’s got a mouth.” 

“General Kuzan!” 

Kuzan turned around to see a young man dressed in an Earth Kingdom military guard uniform running frantically toward him. He was clearly out of breath and wore a concerned look on his face. The man was out of breath when he finally reached the water bender. 

“Calm down, soldier. What’s wrong?”

“A group of pirates broke into the Middle Ring. I was told to find a white lotus member to get rid of them.”

“Can the Dai Li not deal with this themselves?” Kuzan wasn’t in the mood to fight to keep the strict borders of the upper and lower ring. He even doubted these pirates were doing more than roaming the area without being rich. 

“They fought back the Dai Li to enter! That’s why I was sent here!”

Kuzan moved his hand to his face and began to sigh. “Fine, where are they?”

“Last we saw they were at the Tea shop by the University! Eiichiro's Fine Tea!"

Kuzan began walking away, toward the University. The other Lotus members stood up and walked toward him. “Do you need help?” One member said.

“No,” Kuzan said quickly. “I can handle this.”

“Wait, Sir!” The soldier tried to get the water benders attention. “Should I tell General Garp or anyone else? What should we do, Sir?” 

Kuzan walked back over and began talking to the other Lotus members and the soldier. Luffy was poking his head out from behind a bush. He was listening to the whole thing. A huge grin spread across his face as soon as the soldier had started talking. “Pirates?” He wondered. He began running toward a hole in the palace wall which led to the edge of the Upper Ring. Once passed the wall, he started heading to that small tea shop. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pirates huh? I wonder who that could possibly be? Thanks for reading!


	3. The King's Throne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace gets a talking to from Rayleigh while Sabo is no where to be found

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait! Hope the longer chapter makes up for it!

The fire from the throne hadn’t been there since Ace was a toddler, yet the warmth from them still filled the room. He sat kneeling in front of the shrine to the fire lord, a position he never wanted. He would never tell anyone, but sitting there, with the image of his father in his mind, he felt intimidated. Before those feelings could sit too long, Rayleigh walked into the war room. He leaned on the incline in front of Ace, but didn’t dare sit on the throne. The look on his face was that of a man trying desperately to be annoyed. However, nothing could hide the slight pride creeping on his lips. Ace released a breath when he looked up to Rayleigh’s eyes. 

“Well, how was the festival?”

Ace sat up straight with a look of shock on his face. He bit his lip to hold in his laugh. Rayleigh stared, waiting for an answer. “Um,” Ace tried. “There was a dunk tank, food stands, dart boards. Fun, you know?”

Rayleigh nodded, laughed then shook his head. “What the hell am I going to do with you?” He said it more to himself, but Ace could still hear. “I know you don’t like to hear this, but you really are just like your father.”

Ace turned his face away from Rayleigh in anger, a scowl forming on his face. 

“Oh, don’t give me that. What do you expect me to do in this situation, Ace? How do I get the council to trust you? In three years you’ll be thirteen. Your voice will matter to the people, but if the council doesn’t trust you, doesn’t want you, do you have any idea what that could mean!”

Ace turned back, tilting his head in slight confusion. “I don’t see the problem, the council can just rule, they don’t need me.” He looked down and whispered, “no one does.” 

“I’m going to ignore that last statement to get to the point.” Rayleigh sat down to look at Ace. “Look, kid. Do you realize what you represent?”

Ace shook his head. 

“You are, to the citizens, hope. To the nobles, you’re a product of a system they want to get rid of.”

“Well maybe the system does need to change.”

With that, Rayleigh chuckled. “You’re right, maybe it does. Maybe we should follow in the Earth Kingdoms footsteps. Though, If I’m being honest, those nobles are assholes and they don’t care about the people of this nation.” 

Ace tried and failed to hold in a laugh. “Didn’t think you would say that.”

“You’re not a little kid anymore, you need to understand what’s happening around you.”

The laughter stopped as Ace looked into Rayleigh’s intense expression. He could feel the color drain from his face. 

“I’m not trying to scare you,” Rayleigh said, noticing Ace’s face. “Just want you to know why I push you. I plan for the worst.”

He stood, motioning for Ace to follow. “Let’s leave this place, it’s depressing.”

“Then why come here to talk?” Ace said, finding his voice.

“The council never comes here anymore. I wanted to talk alone.” Rayleigh stopped walking and turned about to face Ace. “When you’re a little older I’d like to have a longer discussion on what I touched on today. However, that’s not for now. You better get going.”

“Go where? You sent Sabo home. I got nothing to do here.”

“Well,” A grin grew on Rayleigh’s face. “Don’t let his parents see you and stay in the castle walls, you hear me?”

Ace got a large smile, nodded to Rayleigh, and ran out the door without another word. 

As Ace left the room, Rayleigh lost his grin. With a somber look, he turned to the empty throne that once sat his friend. He could hear Roger’s laugh echo through the war room, shocking the nobles who hated him. He remembered the day well. Ace could not have been more than a month old and Rouge had been dead for just as long. The day he found out his friend was going to die.

\---

Ace ran through the corridors of the palace toward the secret door which led outside the castle walls. The A.S secret passage. Ace had discovered it when he was five and with the help of the passageway, he discovered Sabo.

_ A grew of kids circled around a fight. In the middle was Sabo with another boy of higher noble status than his family. Ace pushed his way into the circle to see the fight more clearly. The other boy was on the ground, blood dripping from his nose and lip. Sabo stood over him in a ready pose, waiting for the kid to get back up.  _

_ “That all you got!” Sabo yelled. “Get back up, coward!” _

_ Ace had never seen a fight like this before. He was instantly taken by the blonde, intrigued by his words. To Ace’s initial horror, the other boy reached behind his back. In one motion he pulled out a knife and charged at Sabo. Without much thought, Sabo blasted fire into the kid’s face. It wasn’t very powerful, yet it had so much control behind it. The other fell back down and began to cry. _

_ “Damn,” Sabo laughed. “I wouldn’t have agreed to fight if I knew you were gonna be a baby about it!” _

_ “Screw you!” The kid shot back. “I’m gonna tell my dad! He’s on the council!” _

_ A few kids in the circle looked nervous about that declaration and turned to face Sabo. Sabo noticed the shift in support and got back into a fighting pose. Ace pushed through the crowd and stood next to Sabo, also getting into a similar pose. Sabo looked at this new person with wide, confused, eyes.  _

_ “You wanna mess with him,” Ace began, not really knowing what he was doing. “You gotta go through me.” _

_ Sabo laughed and turned back to the crowd with a determined look. Ace shot out a powerful, uncontrolled wave of flames from his fist. It engulfed the group of kids in front of them. The two boys heard some screams and most of the children ran away. After the smoke dispersed, only three others stood against them. The original kid stood in the middle, two older boys next to him on either side.  _

_ “Do you really want to get in more trouble?” The kids asked. “I’ll tell your parents on you.” _

_ “You’re the one who came at me first!” Sabo’s blood boiled. He hated these people. These nobles. All of them.  _

_ “Just get out of here,” Ace chimed in. “And you won’t get hurt.” _

_ “Look boss,” the older boy on the left began. “They’re both benders, and that one kid’s really strong.” _

_ It didn’t matter. The kid had been backing up the entire conversation. “You’ll regret this!” he shouted before running away, his goons following him. When the three were out of sight, both Ace and Sabo burst out laughing.  _

_ “That was great!” Ace started. “I’ve never done anything like that before.” _

_ “Really?” Sabo questioned. “You’re a natural!” _

_ They continued laughing, falling on the ground.  _

_ “Wanna know a secret?” Sabo asked _

_ “Sure?” _

_ “I’d never been in a fight before now either.” _

_ “I don’t believe you! You were way too good.” _

_ “Thank you!” Sabo looked at the ground, a weird look forming. “I was actually really nervous when they turned on me. Thanks for helping, but why did you?” _

_ Ace didn’t know how to respond. He moved before he could think, not really knowing himself why he did it.  _

_ “I don’t know,” Ace said. “I just did. You needed help, and you seem cool.” _

_ “Huh. Wasn't expecting that answer, but ok.” He smiled and looked up at the raven haired boy. “I’m Sabo by the way, nice to meet you.” He reached out his hand.  _

_ Ace grabbed his hand. “Hi, Sabo. I’m Ace.” _

_ Sabo’s eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape. “Ace? The Ace? Like the prince?” _

_ He wasn’t expecting to be releveled so soon, cursing quietly. “Is that ok?” It was less a question and more a statement. Ace’s voice filled with accidental anger at his words. _

_ “Yeah that’s fine,” Sabo laughed. “As long as you’re not a shitty noble like the others, and you don’t seem to be, you’re fine by me!” _

_ The two boys quickly became friends, becoming the twin terrors of the noble district. Their tyranny spread through the entire Main Land Fire Nation, leaving chaos wherever they went.  _

With these memories circling Ace’s brain, he snuck into Sabo’s room through the tunnel they made under the wooden floor. Ace slowly pushed up the floorboard, looking around with caution. 

“Psstt,” he whispered. “Sabo? You in here?”

“I knew you’d show up eventually.” The voice was deep, angry, and familiar. Fear creeped through Ace as he turned toward the voice.

“Sabo isn’t here right now,” Sabo’s father was tall. He towered over the boy and with his face mostly covered, looked like a monster from a mover. 

“Where is he?” Ace tried.

“No where of concern for you, brat. I’m sick of you corrupting my son! Get out of my house!”

“Where’s Sabo?”

“No where you will find him! You are never to see my son again!”

“What did you do with him!?” Ace’s anxiety skyrocketed for his friend, knowing what his father was willing to do to him. 

“Get out!” He picked Ace up, beginning to walk toward the house entrance. “If it was up to me you would have been gone a long time ago!” He threw Ace out the door. He fell onto his back, hitting his head on the ground. “You better watch your back, kid! You have no idea what plans are in motion.” 

Ace got up and ran toward the man, he was too late, a door slamming in his face. “Where’s Sabo? What did you do to him? What’s going on?” Ace frantically banged his firsts into the door. The street of people grew silent, staring at the boy desperately trying to get into a house that wasn’t his, tears forming in his eyes. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh? Lore? Thanks for reading! Things are getting serious in the Ace Sabo timeline


	4. The Pirate Captain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pirate time! Luffy find's some new friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Shows up a month later with starbucks*  
> I have no excuse.... sorry for the late update.

Luffy snuck through the upper ring as quietly as he could. His sandals smacked loudly on the stone beneath him and he waved to strangers as he passed. A smile graced his face as questions he wanted to ask the pirated ricocheted in his mind. Luffy had a goal to get there before Kuzan. It was the only way he knew he wouldn’t get caught. The biggest problem, however, was he wasn’t sure where he was going. 

“Hey old guy!” Luffy yelled at an unsuspecting man on the street. He jumped slightly and looked around before his eyes fell on Luffy.

“I’m sorry, boy, are you talking to me?” The man looked more confused than angry. He held several scrolls and walked toward the university. 

“Yeah!” Luffy said back excitedly. “Do you know where the Ecchi Tea place is?”

The man was speechless. He stood with his mouth open as his eyes comically wide. 

Luffy tilted his head in confusion. “Do you not know? It’s by the school I think.”

Realization hit the man. “Oh! You mean ‘Eiichiro Fine’s Tea’!”

“Yeah, that's what I said!”

“I’m headed that way,” ignoring Luffy’s last statement. “I’ll walk you.”

“Thanks, old guy!”

“You can call me Woop Slap.”

“Ok, old guy!”

The man signed, giving up on the effort as clearly nothing was getting through to him. The two walked down the street toward the university. Woop Slap’s attention went in and out as Luffy talked his ear off. He asked questions about himself, got bored, interrupted, and started talking about other things. The boy skipped, jumped, and spun around as they talked, the whole time with a large smile on his face. As the conversation continued, Woop Slap couldn’t help, but to smile as well. 

“We’re here,” Woop Slap looked down at the kid, a soft look on his face. “If you go down that street you’ll find the ‘Eiichiro’s Fine Tea’ shop.”

“Thanks, Sap guy!” Luffy waved and ran off without another word. 

It’s - ah, never mind.” Woop Slap laughed. “Good luck, kid!”

\---

It had been a long day. He knew this would be work, and boy did he hate the idea of that, but Kuzan hoped that the pirates would be easier to deal with. He wasn’t expecting the Red Haired Pirates. 

“We haven’t done anything wrong, general,” the captain pushed his straw hat up to look Kuzan in the eyes. “From what I understand, this is a public area, and we’re not wanted in the Earth Kingdom.” He had a smug look on his face, which just pissed Kuzan off. 

“You’re still criminals,” Kuzan sighed. “And from what  _ I _ understand, you fought Dai Li members to get here. So, you are wanted.” 

“They wouldn’t let us in!” A man with blonde dreads and a bandana spoke up from a seat behind his captain. “That’s discrimination!”

“Calm down, Yassop.” Another man stood up next to the captain. He took a drag from his cigarette and blew it toward the direction of the water bender. “We didn’t kill anyone, general. They should have let us in.”

“Yeah!” Yasopp chimed in. “We’re paying customers!”

Kuzan really didn’t want to deal with this. When he was brought to the Earth Kingdom at the request of his friend Garp, he assumed it was all going to be training the avatar. However, he’s instead in a tea shop dealing with random pirates that had nothing to do with him. 

“I don’t care that you’re here, I don’t care why you’re here, I don’t care who you are or what you think.” At his words, the captain looked up to Kuzan. The corner of his mouth twitched as he swiveled in his chair to face the water bender completely. “If you want to get some tea, I’m not going to stop you. Don’t harass the owner, don’t go to the upper ring and we won’t have any problems.”   
  


“How mighty generous of you.” The captain said with a grin. 

“Don’t get too comfy,” Kuzan countered. “If anyone tells me you’ve been causing trouble, I’ll personally destroy you and your crew.” 

“Understood,” the smile hadn’t left the captain’s face. Something about that was uneasy to Kuzan. “Care to stay for a drink?” 

Kuzan couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, enjoy your tea.” he turned around and walked out of the shop. As soon as he left, he heard laughter from inside. 

“Oh my spirits, boss!” Yasopp tried to get out, but he was laughing too hard. “That guy thought he was so tough!”

“Yeah!” another crewmate chimed in. “He really thought he could kick your ass!”

“Now hold on,” their boss said, trying to mask his own laughter. “Maybe he could!”   
  


The whole place erupted. After some time, the shop calmed down, but was still full of life and laughter. As time passed, the captain turned his head toward the window to the shop, seeing something quickly move down. 

“How long are you gonna hide?” He called out. “Come on in if you’re so intrigued.”

The whole crew turned in the same direction and watched as a little head popped out.

“Hey kid, I’m Shanks, captain of this crew. Who are you?”

With a wide smile and enthusiasm the boy answered. “I’m Luffy! Can I join your pirate ship?”

The laughter started again, loudest coming from the captain himself. “Come in here, kid! I’ll buy you a drink!”

“I’m seven.”

“It’s a tea shop,” Shanks laughed. “I know you’re a kid.”

Luffy pushed himself up and jumped through the window. Though he tripped he quickly got back to his feet and ran up to sit next to shanks. “So what do you like?”

“What are you having?”   
  


“You won’t like what I have,” he grinned. “What about Jasmine?”

“Sure!” Luffy said quickly. “Let me join your crew!”   
  


It wasn’t a question this time. To Shanks it clearly came off as a demand. There was so much determination in this little kid’s eyes. Shanks couldn’t help his smile. However, 

“Sorry, kid, you’re too young, and shouldn’t you ask your parents first?” It was mostly a joke, but Shanks was genuinely curious over who this kid was. 

“What do you mean I’m too young!” He stood up on the chair “I’m super strong! My punch can break through a mountain!”

“Oh really?” Yasopp chimed. “And my son could slay a platypus bear when he was three!”

“Are you making fun of me?” Luffy yelled. He was angry at the idea of it, but he honestly had no idea. 

“Calm down, kid,” Yasopp tried to slow his laughter. “I’m just teasing!”

“Yeah don’t worry,” a man with a cigarette said. “It’s just playful banter.”

“Banter?” Luffy tilted his head to the side as the people laughed around him. While he didn’t know what that word meant, he did know one thing. He really liked these guys. His face erupted into a large grin as he started laughing with the pirates around him. The day continued in that little tea shop and soon the boy realized what he’d been missing from his life. This freedom to laugh, to joke, to be himself. These pirates had that. Then the unthinkable happened.

“Well guys,” Shanks spoke up. “I think it’s time to go.” 

“What!” Luffy was heartbroken. “You’re leaving?” 

“Yeah. sorry kid. We’re leaving the city in the morning. Taking the train to the port where we docked our ship. If you want to meet us to say goodbye, feel free.”

“Just let me come!”

“I can’t do that with a clean conscience.”

“What do you mean?” Luffy questioned. 

“We don’t care if he comes, Captain!” A crewmate decided to add.

“Then he’ll take your place!” Shanks threw back at him.

“Nevermind! Sorry, Kid!”

“You said that too quickly!” Luffy yelled.

“Anyway, Luffy,” Shanks tried to get his attention again. “I like you and I couldn’t handle something happening to you. Anything can happen on those waters.”

Luffy looked down. He was feeling something, but he wasn’t sure what. Sadness? Anger? Something else? He couldn’t tell. 

“Cheer up, kid!” Yasopp tried. “Maybe we’ll pick you up when you’re older!”   
  


“Really?” Some excitement returned to him.

“Yeah,” Shanks chuckled. “Maybe.” He motioned to the crew and they began to file out the door. “We’ll be at the outer wall at around eight tomorrow. Do you know where to go and can you get there?”

“Yeah! I know where to go!”

“See you tomorrow, Luffy.”

“Bye! See Ya!” Inside Luffy’s little mind a plan started to form as he waved goodbye to his new friend. He wasn’t gonna let them leave without him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With everything going down in the world of politics and school I sorta lost track of time..... but i hope you enjoyed! I'll try to update more regularly!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope ya'll are intrigued! Please be nice, it's been a long time since I wrote for fun, so sorry if there's any mistakes. I just thought this would be fun, comments and kudos are always appreciated!


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